Photo Albums

Morongo Basin Historical Society

07/26/2015

Folks, I'm making a conscientious effort to go and do some stuff. It's been one year since my double bypass surgery, and I still ain't 100%. But I ain't dead, and we've got a whole world to go explore. Raven Jake is on the "I'm in if it's free" plan, which is all about my budget and not the value of the experience.

Case in point: it's been a few years since I've been to the Autry. And that's a shame. 'cause they've got some great stuff goin' on. Their big exhibit right now isEmpire and Liberty: the Civil War and the West, but Kim Stringfellow's photo exhibition on Jackrabbit Homesteads taken in the Morongo Valley is also terrific and I was especially drawn to The Balance of Power on the American Frontier, which is largely about the weapons of the historic Old West. And, of course, many of their exhibits explore the boundaries of the perception of the American West and the reality of the American West, exemplified by their emphasis on movie westerns, now including The Lone Ranger.

The Autry is developing into a terrific museum and well worth the $10 fee but, in fitting with the Raven Jake Austerity Plan, it is free to the public every second Tuesday of the month.

04/25/2013

I'm rarely taken with a place as much as I am with Noah Purifoy's Outdoor Desert Art Museum. There's so much stuff to look at that I'm gonna need three or four visits just to take it all in. Matter of fact, I might just move in as one of the displays. Now, I don't know too much about Noah, 'cept he lived in Watts for a spell, as did I. So I'll let his website tell it:

Born in Snow Hill, Alabama in 1917, Noah Purifoy lived and worked most of his life in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California, where he died in 2004. He received an undergraduate degree from Alabama State Teachers College in 1943 and a graduate degree from Atlanta University in 1948. In 1956, just shy of his fortieth birthday, Purifoy received a BFA from Chouinard, now CalArts. His earliest body of sculpture, constructed out of charred debris from the 1965 Watts Rebellion, was the basis for 66 Signs of Neon (1966), a landmark group exhibition on the riots that traveled throughout the country. As a founding director of the Watts Towers Art Center, Purifoy knew the community intimately.
His 66 Signs of Neon, in line with the postwar period’s fascination with the street and its objects, constituted a Duchampian approach to the fire-molded alleys of Watts. This strategy profoundly impacted artists then emerging in Los Angeles and beyond, such as David Hammons, John Outterbridge and Senga Nengudi, who all worked with him. For the twenty years that followed the rebellion, Purifoy dedicated himself to the found object, and to using art as a tool for social change. In the late 1980’s after eleven years of public policy work for the California Arts Council, where he initiated programs such as ‘Artists in Social Institutions,’ which brought art into the state prison system, Purifoy moved his practice out to the Mojave desert, where he lived for the last fifteen years of his life creating ten-acres full of large-scale sculpture on the desert floor. Constructed entirely from
junked materials, this otherworldly environment is one of California’s great art historical wonders.

The mission of the Noah Purifoy Foundation is to preserve and maintain Purifoy’s outdoor museum of assemblage sculpture as a permanent cultural center and park, and to promote greater public appreciation for the values embodied in Purifoy's work.

04/23/2013

Alright, I've been hearing this persistant rumor that the seed pods of the Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia, are edible. Not just in the sense of "it won't kill you," but like something you might actually want to eat. I'm talkin' about stuff like this:

The stems can be baked, and the blossoms, minus the bitter centers, can be cooked and eaten. The young flower stalks are edible. The flowers are edible raw or cooked as a potherb. Check them for insects before cooking or eating them. The seed pods and seeds are edible when they are young, raw or baked in ashes. They can be sliced, dried, and stored. They taste similar to banana.

Similar to the most bitter, alkaline bananas you can imagine, I guess...

Fruit of the Joshua Tree

The greenish-brown fruit of the Joshua Tree is oval and somewhat fleshy. The 2- to 4-inch-long fruit grows in clusters and is edible. According to "The Oxford Companion to Food," mature pods can be roasted and have a sweet, candy-like flavor. Each fruit contains many flat seeds, which are released on the ground when a fruit dries on the tree and falls to the ground in late spring.

Flowers and Pollination

The flowers of the Joshua tree are bell-shaped, slightly longer than an inch and have six creamy, yellowish-green sepals. The flowers are grouped into clusters, have an unpleasant odor and blossom mostly in the spring. The Joshua Tree, like most yuccas, relies on a single species, the female pronuba moth, for pollination. No other animal transfers the tree's pollen. The moth lays her eggs in the flowers and the hatched larvae feed on the seeds contained in the fruit.

Maybe it'd be better to just eat the moth...

And finally -

Edible Parts: Flowers; Fruit; Root; Seed; Seedpod.

Flowers - cooked. The flower buds, before opening, can be parboiled in salt water to remove the bitterness, drained and then cooked again and served like cauliflower. The opened flowers are rich in sugar and can be roasted and eaten as candy. Fruit - cooked. The fruits can be roasted then formed into cakes and dried for later use. Root - raw, boiled or roasted. Seed. Gathered and eaten by the local Indians. No further details are given, but it is probably ground into a powder and mixed with cornmeal or other flours and used for making bread, cakes etc. Immature seedpod. No more details given. [this is credited as Joshua Tree, but might actually be generic yucca]

If I were one of the locals; Cahuilla, Chemhuevi, Serrano et al, I'd tell the settlers to eat one just for a laugh.

Couple o' things: this has been one of the best years ever for Joshua Tree blooms, although now most of the bloomin' is over and they're poding up. Edibility? So far, so gross. So some kids have been hospitalized for eating a spoonful of cinnamon on a dare? So what? Doesn't even compare to the dreaded yucca pod. So if any of y'all actually have a recipe for Joshua Somethin'-or-Other I'd love to hear about it, 'cause it sure don't taste like banana!

Shout out to Gerard Ledonne from the Joshua Tree Saloon, the artist/owner of the Marrakesh Express here; it is truely a sight to make you smile. I've been assured that the "Hippy Bus" is in good working order and I sure would love to see it trolling Highway 62 sometime.

Y'all know I'm a sucker for a street piano. Turns out the one in Joshua Tree really has some history behind it.

Poor thing is as flat as can be - could really use a tuning. Now the public pianos I'm familiar with are mostly the ones in LA left from last year's Play Me I'm Yours project so I had to turn to Wikipedia to get schooled about this one:

The Public Piano Project in Joshua
Tree California began
as a public grand piano Valentine Gift to the community in 1995 as the Self Serve Serenade by
artist Piano Bob (aka Bob Fenger). In 2002 Piano Bob began a donated piano
consolidation project building a weather proof outdoor piano from the parts of
3 pianos and installed April 2004 in front of Joshua Tree Health Foods. It was
enjoyed by thousands of Joshua Tree National
Park Visitors and locals for nearly
2 years and was reinstalled 20 April 2012 at the Coyote Corner Gift Shop in
Joshua Tree as the first Public Prepared Piano. The piano is reminiscent of a Gamelan Orchestra prepared with
everyday items such as coins, screws, paper mutes, wedged into the strings in a
typical John
Cage manner(inventor of the prepared
piano in the 1940s also see Bob
Fenger's Acoustisizer at Prepared piano 2.10). The Public Prepared Piano is the
third phase of the Public Piano Project dedication to unknown closet
pianists, art in public places, and instant drum circle fun around a keyboard.
Through regular tuning and maintenance of the public pianos another opportunity presented itself
for the public to observe, learn and interact with the total Public Piano Project experience.
Questions like: how long does it stay in tune outside? The short answer: the
colder the better the more in tune. The fact that Joshua Tree is in the High Desert
above Palm Springs
with many 100 degree plus days in the summer gave numerous opportunities for
tuning, sharing and exchanging ideas. The artist's stated intention: 'The Public Piano Project creates
momentary beauty thoughts and ideas that resonate out across fields, parking
lots and sidewalks. It invites others to play along and gives way to song and
laughter, accidental bonding and new friends; even possibly an ephemeral center
of insight and change'. On 21 December 2012 Piano Bob launched his fourth phase
of the Public Piano Project with the Prepared and Unprepared dueling
pianos for peace at the Joshua Tree Hospice. Public Piano Locations Public Piano Tour Pictures 2007.

Out in Joshua Tree, toolin' around with Jane and Barb and Rob and Sigrid and Greg and Sherri and Steve, we came across Simi Dabah's Joshua Tree studio at 5255 Sunfair Road. Simi's sculptures are all over the place up here in the high desert; you see them everywhere. I haven't met Mr. Dabah myself, so here's what his website has to say about him:

Simi Dabah, a self-taught artist/welder, has been creating welded steel sculptures from industrial scrap for more than forty years. He is a prolific artist who believes that using scrap materials to create works of art is both friendly to the environment and inspirational to the viewer. His sculptures are appropriate for both indoor and outdoor installations, include a wide spectrum of nonrepresentational designs, and range from table-top size to more than 20 feet high. Most of the outdoor pieces are left in their natural state rusting to a warm patina. Others may be protected with a clear finish.

Simi donates his sculptures to public and non-profit organizations for permanent installation and to help in their fundraising efforts. 100% of the funds are kept by the non-profit organizations, and Simi claims no tax deductions for his donations.

Simi has a studio in Los Angeles, California where he creates most of his pieces. His second studio is in Joshua Tree, California where his sculptures are displayed on 8 acres of land.

07/18/2012

Folks, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not opposed to green energy. I think it'll be a good day when our country isn't so dependent on coal and oil. But there's green and then there's green. Instead of giving huge energy companies a bunch of money to tear up pristine desert, how about putting solar panels on every government building in every city, where that electricity is actually going to be used. And leave my desert alone!

There's a nefarious plot afoot to turn Black Mesa into a wind farm, and I am completely, 100% against that. Here's the Homestead Valley's response, and since you're unlikely to see it anywhere else, here goes: Homestead Valley Responds to Wind Turbines

06/18/2012

Shanghai Brown is trying to get some grant money for the Sun Runner, an independent publication that supports all sort of Desert Ratishness, and therefore it's a good cause. Only takes about two minutes, and it's a worthy cause:

Hey folks,

I'm asking for your help from those of you who use FACEBOOK, but it's really easy. My magazine, The Sun Runner, is applying for a Mission Small Business grant through Chase and LivingSocial. This grant would make a huge difference for our ability to cover serious desert issues, as well as to help promote desert arts and culture, history, tribal matters, and more.

Facebook users can help support The Sun Runner Magazine with a few clicks.In order to be eligible, we have to get at least 250 votes before June 30. The more votes, the better for our application.

To vote, all you have to do is go to https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/, log in with Facebook - then like them & then near the bottom of the email search for Sun Runner, California, Joshua Tree, and when we pop up, hit "Vote."

That's it. It only costs you a few seconds to help us be eligible for a grant that could make a significant difference for our ability to serve the desert region. Thanks for your help and support! ‹Steve "Shanghai" Brown

01/17/2012

Folks I'm a great believer in alternative energy, but I'm not a believer in giving huge tracts of pristine desert to power companies so they can ruin public land for a profit. This is becoming a huge problem all over the California desert and we're going to have to band together to do something about it.

Now some of the land that's supposed to get windmills and solar panels all over it is part of the Old Spanish Trail, specifically the Tecopa part of the trail, so I'm going to be at this meeting, and if you're going too, please RSVP with Paul McClure.

Here's the forwarded message:

Please join us on Saturday, January 21, 2012, for a very important meeting!

An OSTA Alert

Old Spanish Trail Faces New Threats in the Mojave. What Can OSTA Do? Help Us Find the Answers… Proposed solar energy and wind farm projects endanger the Old Spanish Trail corridor in some of the most sensitive and unspoiled areas of the Mojave. The Hidden Hills solar plant and the Silurian Valley wind farm would both require massive grading and erect huge structures (twin 750-foot high towers at Hidden Hills; more than 120 windmills from 250-400 feet high along Highway 127 in the scenic Silurian Valley near Death Valley). Both projects would impinge on the Trail and destroy unspoiled desert vistas.

Join with Tecopa chapter leaders and OSTA members from California and Nevada on January 21, 2012, to plan an effective response that makes sure the Trail is protected now that the U.S. is locating renewable energy in the desert. The Tecopa chapter is established with regulatory agencies as an “Intervener” and is actively engaged on these two projects, as well as ongoing research on the Trail. This is your chance to become involved.

Refreshments: Sandwiches and drinks will be availableCost: Free to OSTA members and guests with advance registration

The Program

OSTA’s Jan. 21 Strategy and Action Planning session will:

Review proposed projects and evaluate possible mitigation measures

Consider proposing efficient alternatives, such as placing power generation where the population is. This can be achieved by installing rooftop on industrial and large government buildings, warehouses, and parking lots in our cities.

Plan and organize OSTA monitoring and participation in the regulatory and environmental proceedings for each project, contacting elected officials, and coordinating with other historical and environmental organizations

Offer you the chance to get involved with ongoing OSTA projects, including:

Field location and recording of the 1829-1848 mule trace being conducted by the Tecopa chapter

Archival research to document the OST in CA and NV Preparation of OSTA field and archival data for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) presentations.

Register for this free event by return e-mail to Paul McClure (espabloaqui@verizon.net) or by telephone at 909-305-0505. Please include names of all in your party who plan to attend. This is so that we can prepare an attendance list and order the right amount of food and drinks.